Mastermind
by StarlessNight95
Summary: Names are given for more reasons than to be praised, to be called, to be ordered around. Names can be powerful, controlling. Some cats even have a name that can change fate itself. Some cats will use their names for evil. Discontinued until further notice
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I don't own Warriors. I PWN it! HAHAHAHA!! Just kidding. Well… yeah I don't own it **_**or**_** pwn it. I just don't own it!**

**Mastermind**

**Prologue**

A tom looked into the cave. His eyes narrowed at what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, he half-ran into the cave. It wasn't as dark as he expected to be, but dark nonetheless.

"Ah… I was told that you'd come…" rasped a voice that spoke for many moons.

The tom looked, and almost flinched at the cat that spoke. Its eyes were big and bulging and it's fur… there was practically none. It looked like… a male. He was lying down on the ground.

"And I was told that you'd probably try to be wise and all-knowing," the tom growled. _I was never told that he was so… ugly though,_ he thought to himself.

Somehow, the ugly cat's eyelids somehow slid over its big eyes, obviously attempting to narrow it. Perhaps, he had guessed what the tom was thinking.

"I am wise, but I may not be all-knowing," the ugly cat mewed gruffly, "Besides, I have watched over this place seasons before you were born!" the ugly cat unsheathed gnarled claws, and scraped the ground, emitting a horrible noise.

"Just let me have it. Give me your permission already!" the tom snapped, impatiently.

The ugly cat eyes bulged, and seemed to stare at the tom, "You know my name. Use it."

"_Rock_, please just give me permission," the tom snarled.

"You have a powerful name," Rock mewed, changing the subject. "Use it for good, and not bad. You are… both blessed and cursed."

"What I think is good might not be what _you_ think is good."

Rock got up from shaky paws and limped until his old breath ruffled the tom's fur. Now that Rock was close up, any cat could tell that his eyes did not see anything, and yet, it seemed to stare _through_ you.

"I will never give you permission," Rock hissed, "Not if you keep on mewling like that!"

"I can change your fate right now!" the tom spat.

"Will you, now?" Rock mewed softly, almost mockingly, "Go on, and try."

The tom gritted his teeth angrily, and clamped his mouth shut.

"I… fine, I won't…do…it! Please, Rock… just give-"

"Swear to me. Swear that you won't curse yourself," Rock commanded, though he didn't really sound commanding with his old, raspy, voice.

"I can't do that," the tom whispered, "I'll have to go without your permission."

"I'd like to think that you're a good cat… but I can't trust you."

The tom looked up, anger seeping up, overpowering him. He trembled with fury, wanting to rip out Rock's eyes, to rip out what little bits of hair he had left…

"CURSE YOU!" he snarled in an unearthly voice, "I curse you, now and forever!"

The tom's eyes lolled around his eyes sockets, and his paws felt shaky. He let out an involuntary whimper, and his paws almost gave way, but he forced himself to stand. Rock just stayed there, standing, maybe trying to imitate a cat that was watching.

"I've traveled far… just for this…" the tom whispered.

Rock eyes disappeared briefly behind his eyelids, and his gnarled claws clawed softly at something… woody. There was a stick that the tom hadn't noticed it before. There were numerous scratches that seemed to be placed with thought and care.

"I pity you, for what you have to bear. I… give you permission," Rock mewed, sounding grudging and uncertain.

"Thank you… sorry about cursing you…" the tom breathed.

Rock let out an odd, raspy, barking sound, it sounded distinctly like a laugh, and his eyes were narrowed not with anger, but what seemed to be amusement.

"You can't exactly curse a dead cat."

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His paws fell into the unseen paw prints in the rocks. It always felt big… and unknown. If he had sight, then, maybe, he could actually see if it really were cat paw prints…

"Jaypaw! Stop fooling around and get to the Moonpool!" Leafpool snapped.

Gritting his teeth to stop an angry retort, he padded up to the pool until a bit of water wet the fur on his forepaw. Even if it was only a little dip, he still disliked it.

Closing his eyes, he extended his conscious to every other cat.

Mothwing wasn't going to dream about any StarClan cat prancing about and rattling on about prophecies. The she-cat didn't even believe in them.

Willowshine was most likely talking to Mudfur… something about RiverClan, nothing that would really interest Jaypaw. He wasn't going to look at her dreams. Heck, he wouldn't even bother 'spying' as Leafpool called it on Littlecloud, Barkface, or Kerstrelpaw. Leafpool would be awkward to spy on… he'd have to be extra careful not to let himself show. He didn't want to imagine what she's say if she found out.

He almost woke up from his 'trance' as he detected another cat. It wasn't a medicine cat, or any Clan cat. Maybe it was a rogue, a loner, or, although he highly doubted it, a kittypet.

Letting himself be absorbed by this cat's dreams, the first thing he saw was the cat itself. Or, _himself, _as the cat was a he. He was a golden-brown tabby, with grass-green eyes. He was staring straight ahead, at something. He started to turn around, and Jaypaw quickly launched himself behind a random bush.

The cat cocked his head to one side, seeming to be confused, and then went back to staring in front of him. He seemed to be impressed and fascinated by what he saw, because his eyes seemed to glow slightly.

Curious, Jaypaw quickly glanced at what the tom was so interested in. He expected it to be something… spectacular. Letting his eyes adjust to the brightness he let out a squeak of surprise.

It was… a sunset… a mere sunset. Colours streaked towards the glowing sun… beautiful hues of pink, red, and a bit of orange. Jaypaw thought it was breathtaking; many cats saw this many times, but being blind, he never had the time to actually appreciate it.

"You're one of the few cats who seem to like it," the tom mewed softly, not looking at Jaypaw, "It's beautiful, isn't it?

Who was this tom talking to? Him?

The tom turned his head, this time to look right at Jaypaw. His green eyes regarded him with a bit of respect, mixed with distant understanding.

"Time to go, Jaypaw," a voice seemed to ring from the skies. The sunset shattered so quickly, and all was black. He opened his eyes, blindness returned.

Jaypaw could scent Leafpool, and as usual, fog barred her mind, so Jaypaw couldn't tell what she was thinking. Wisps of hope seemed to occasionally flow out, and even those little pieces of emotions were brief, and evaporated swiftly.

His ears pricked as heard another noise, not those of the medicine cats yapping about different herbs and such, but a murmur. It was distant, and Jaypaw was only able to hear it thanks to the breeze that blew towards him.

"Beautiful things don't last…" the voice seemed to say.

Jaypaw shivered, the image of the tom with the green eyes flashing in his mind.

**I'm probably going to write more… soon, hopefully. I'm hoping that it'll turn out as good on the computer as it was in my head…**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I haven't read Long Shadows… so I obviously DON'T own it either.**

**Mastermind**

**Chapter 1**

"Jaypaw, we need more watermint!" Leafpool mewed.

"Yes Leafpool," Jaypaw grunted. _Herbs, herbs, and more herbs! Can't Leafpool stop feeling so anxious about running out of herbs?_

"Maybe you should take a warrior with you," Leafpool went on, "It would be better."

Trying to sound polite, but ended up sounding quite rude, Jaypaw growled, "I know the territory well enough!"

Leafpool tail flicked the ground in one swift motion, and she let out an angry sigh.

"You'll bring back more herbs that way!" Leafpool snapped, "I'm not talking about your blindness!"

"Fine," was all Jaypaw muttered.

Scenting around the camp, Jaypaw decided to bring Mousewhisker. Eh, he was a kittypet, but he collected herbs with Mousewhisker before.

Walking out of the medicine den, he scented Honeyfern guarding the entrance. She was mumbling something about… Berrynose. She was so preoccupied that all she did to acknowledge Jaypaw and Mousewhisker was a nod and an inaudible mutter.

"So… watermint looks-err, smells like what again?" Mousewhisker asked awkwardly, once they were at the lake.

Jaypaw sniffed the air, and smelling the fresh watermint scent, he flicked his tail towards it.

"I'm going to check something…" Jaypaw mewed, thinking about his stick.

He slowly moved his paws to where he had last left his stick. It was still there. Letting out a brief purr of satisfaction, he let his paws feel the scratches along the stick; some crossed and others uncrossed.

"Looking at something?" mewed a somehow familiar, male voice.

Surprised and angry that he hadn't scented any cat, he whipped around towards to voice, even if he couldn't see the cat who spoke.

"Who are you?" Jaypaw hissed.

Chuckling, the tom mewed, "To my mother, I'm her precious kit. To my enemies, I'm a piece of fox dung. To my friends, well, I'm just their friend. To a fox, I'm a nuisance. To a-"

"What's your _name_?" Jaypaw snapped, impatient.

"I listed a few," the tom mewed, sounding amused, "My little kit, fox dung, a fox once called me 'grr rrr', a rogue, a loner, a-"

"What do you ME to call you?" Jaypaw snarled.

"That depends entirely on what _you_ think. What am I to you?"

"A mousebrain," Jaypaw muttered to himself, "I don't know, can't I just have your StarClan-damned named?"

"Impatience isn't good, you know," the tom murmured, "Fine, I will get to my name that was given to me. To those who know of my rank, I am Sayer. To a mere cat, I am Conifer. If you aren't a mere cat… then I am Fatesayer."

"I don't think of myself as 'mere'!" Jaypaw sniffed, thinking of the prophecy.

Jaypaw felt himself being observed (**A/N: **Not the perverted way!") by unseen eyes, and finally, the cat conceded, "You are blind… and you don't seem like a mere cat."

Satisfied, Jaypaw nodded, and pricking his ears, he heard Mousewhisker approaching, with the scent of watermint basking in his nostrils. Surprise emanated from the former-kittypet, and then hostility. Jaypaw heard the watermint drop to the ground, and a snarl tore from Mousewhisker's throat.

"Who are you?" he spat threateningly.

"Well, to my mother, I'm her-" Fatesayer began.

"Call him Conifer!" Jaypaw interrupted. Mousewhisker, contrary to him, was a mere cat, "He's not a threat… at least I don't think so."

"I'm passing through," Fatesayer mewed vaguely, "To see a certain Clan… ThunderClan, from what I remember."

"That's my Clan!" Jaypaw blurted out.

There was an odd silence, in which only the distant chirping of birds could be heard, and Fatesayer mewed, "May I… see your leader?"

Jaypaw wondered if he could trust this somehow familiar cat… he spoke as if he was dropped on his head by his mother a few times, but he didn't sound like he had bad intentions.

"Firestar will decide what to do with you, then," Mousewhisker mewed uncertainly.

Fatesayer was silent, except for the swish of his head as he nodded. Remembering the watermint even though Mousewhisker forgot it, Jaypaw picked them up, and padded to camp, behind Fatesayer and Mousewhisker.

When they arrived at the camp, Honeyfern was still there, but this time, they had her attention as she saw the unfamiliar cat.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

Jaypaw had a pretty good idea of where Fatesayer's mouth was, so he flicked his tail almost in his mouth.

"His name is Conifer," Jaypaw mewed for the second time. Honeyfern really was a mere cat too.

"What does he want here?" Honeyfern growled, suspicious waves flowing out of her,

"He wants to see Firestar," Mousewhisker replied.

'He just came back from hunting… so I guess that he might speak to you… if he wants to," Honeyfern mewed reluctantly.

Finally back in camp, Jaypaw raced to the medicine den to drop off his watermint, and followed Mousewhisker and Fatesayer's scent up the Highledge. Mousewhisker obviously thought of himself as the guard, quickly glancing at Jaypaw to see who entered Firestar's den. Staying next to Mousewhisker, Jaypaw pricked his ears and listened.

"Mousewhisker told me to call you Conifer, is that right?" Firestar voice queried.

"Yes, I am Conifer to you," Fatesayer mewed immediately.

Jaypaw almost let out a purr of amusement, Fatesayer thought Firestar was a mere cat?

"I came here because I… had to. Is it alright for me to stay?" Fatesayer asked, his voice getting a bit quiet.

Firestar was known to accept most cats, so Jaypaw wasn't really surprised when he mewed, "Alright, but tell me, why must you stay here?"

"Um… because… I… am all alone?" Fatesayer mewed, and any cat could tell that he was a horrible liar.

"That… is quite interesting…" Firestar mewed, sounding unconvinced.

"You _will_ let me stay" Fatesayer suddenly snarled, "I say so, so I shall stay!"

Jaypaw shivered at the intensity of Fatesayer's voice, and green eyes flashed in his mind. Fatesayer… was he the cat that appeared in his dreams?

Jaypaw heard Fatesayer panting, followed by a breathless mew of, "I… am staying."

"Very well, you may stay… but someone must be guarding you at all times!" Firestar declared. Paw steps coming out of the leader's den announced the fact that the two cats were getting out of the den.

Oddly enough, Jaypaw could feel a bit of tiredness coming from Fatesayer as though he had run around the camp a few times.

Firestar climbed onto the Highledge, and announced, "Let all cats old enough to catch their prey join here for a Clan meeting!"

Cloudtail, Dustpelt, Brackenfur and Sorreltail came out from the warrior's den, and Foxpaw, Icepaw, Squirrelflight and Whitewing came from the forest. Other cats followed the two apprentices and their mentors, some carrying prey, and Spiderleg came out from the dirt place, looking a bit embarrassed.

"This cat is to stay at ThunderClan… for now. His name is Conifer," Firestar mewed.

There were much protests of 'not another non-Clan cat' joining ThunderClan.

"Another rogue?" Dustpelt growled irritably.

"We have enough non-Clan cats in this Clan, Firestar!" Spiderleg added.

"It's against the warrior code to let cats like him in!" Hollyleaf hissed.

"I said that he will be guarded at all time! Until he is trusted enough, he will always be watched!" Firestar repeated, this time with more irritation, "Are there any volunteers?"

Jaypaw felt reluctance overwhelming the clearing. No cat wanted to guard Fatesayer.

"I will," Jaypaw declared.

**Yeah… I don't know if Firestar would actually ask for volunteers, but oh well…**

**Not much action, but I hope it was okay.**

**Constructive ****criticism**** is welcome as well as reviews! :D**


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